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The police, these fearless public servants are ere on the frontlines in the war between civilization and anarchy. As such --just like soldiers in the their foxholes-- they oft develop a deep feeling of camaraderie. Generally that camaraderie is a good thing. But there is a dark side to this brotherhood whose presence pops up in the press from time to time. Seemingly with no impact on the continuation of corruption, the former is illustrated in scandals involving them:

· Video of excessive force and brutality used in an arrest of a middle-aged Santa Rosa woman by Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy Charles Blount directly contradicted the officer's sworn statement and court testimony.

America needs it heroes. Society wouldn't survive long without them, but living with them can also be problematic. Authoritative figureheads --like the local chief of police-- who explain to the public the how's and why's of crime. And what they are doing about it. The public doesn't like to contemplate the possibility that their trust in such figures is misplaced.

"What. Me Fire a Warning Shot?"

Try to tell that to the friends of the late Andy Gomes or to the African American community. Of course the Sonoma County Sheriff himself had nothing directly to do with the gunning down of the Hispanic youth holding a toy gun by a trigger-happy deputy.

It is perhaps too much to expect of Sheriff Freitas to be held accountable for the work of his minions. The sheriff certainly did fail to inculcate the virtues and benefits of the warning shot into the rank and file. A real man and a true public-minded sheriff might have taken responsibility for the actions of his staff. Rather than sit idly by on the sidelines while everyone but he looked into the tragic incident.

It is now widely recognized that the police in America have for decades --rather than issuing a ticket-- taken every opportunity to take the lives of their black suspects for relatively minor offenses. Wrongs that had a white man been guilty of would have normally merited a mere comparative slap on the wrist, if that.

Statistics and mobile phone videos are finally making clear that there is a conspiracy amongst certain segments of law enforcement to indulge in the fulfilling of the height of their racial hatreds. Most African Americans probably won't need a lot of convincing of the now not so private racist agenda of the police.

By using deadly force for minor violations of the law, before the advent of the smart phone, police were able to indiscriminately gun down innocent and guilty blacks alike. Filling out their fictitious incident reports to their liking. Covering up this fact, highlighting whatever false evidence seemed appropriate in order to substantiate their continued misuse of the tools of law enforcement.

For example: take the BART shooting of an unarmed black man in Oakland for example. Shortly after that police officer was punished for his obviously racially motivated killing of his suspect, rather than bringing him in for his legal right to a hearing. The suspect's best friend was then also murdered as well.

Who had a motive for the second murder? Was it merely a coincidence, or was it the exacting of a racially infused retribution by police officers with white supremacist leanings?